‘I’d like to see a whole lot more cooperation’: MP calls on advice industry to step up

The Shadow Minister for Financial Services has called on the Australian financial advice industry to step up during an appearance on a special Momentum Media podcast.

On the episode, Stuart Robert addressed the sector when asked what he would like to see in the financial services industry moving forward, saying “the second thing I’d like to see is a whole lot more cooperation”.

“Government shouldn't have to impose education requirements on the financial services industry on advisers,” Mr Robert said.

“Why doesn't the AFA and the FPA and others all get together and agree? Agree on what the standard education should be and own that from a self-regulatory space. That would be superb if that advising space really stepped up.

“There's still a lot of divisions and a lot of different organisations there.”

Mr Robert’s comments echoed a sentiment made by the Association of Independently Owned Financial Professionals (AIOFP) executive director, Peter Johnston, earlier this year, who slammed the “ridiculous” number of associations in the industry.

“There's 13 associations, it is ridiculous. Now, if you compare that to the mortgage brokering industry, there's two. They both got on and they got it fixed,” Mr Johnston told ifa in June.

“Canberra sits back and says, ‘[the advice industry] are just a rabble.’"

On the same episode, Mr Robert also claimed the industry has failed to correctly address education standards for some time.

“So I've been doing this journey for a long time and the industry — the advice industry — couldn't get itself together on education. Couldn't agree,” he said.

“Hence, why FASEA was born. Now, FASEA is gone, thank goodness. Because where it landed, I thought was quite poor.

“I'd like to see industry own its own education requirements, come together like the broking industry did, where the players all got together and all agreed.”

To listen to the full podcast with Mr Robert, click here.

Meanwhile, the AIOFP said it “supports abandonment” of the financial adviser exam in its submission to Treasury on the consultation paper for adviser education standards released last week.

In its submission, the AIOFP said there is “no public benefit in maintaining such a contentious exam”.

“Given the loss of advisers and the current requirements for professional technical and ethical education, the imperative to continue with such a national exam no longer exists,” the AIOFP submission reads.

“Consumers are now better served by a cohort of professional advisers who actively subscribe to minimum competency standards and ethical behaviours.”

Neil Griffiths

Neil is the Deputy Editor of the wealth titles, including ifa and InvestorDaily.

Neil is also the host of the ifa show podcast.